As a teacher I feel that studying Latin helps to develop a student’s cognitive and analytical skills. It is a language that contains many details and having to focus on those details assists a student in being more critical of not only the Latin language but other subjects and material as well. Studying this language also provides a window into the foundations of several of the modern European languages. If students wish to pursue the study of say Spanish or French they will be able to see where these languages have evolved from Latin.
As a teacher I do not expect every student to be an avid lover of the subject, but I do require that they make an attempt to learn the language. I have passion for the subject and hope to transfer that to my students. Everyone is not a perfect student and I do not expect my students to attain perfection. All that I will ask is that they work hard and give his or her best effort. It is not an easy language and sometimes it can even seem confusing. I want them to ask questions and make mistakes because that is how students learn. They will not get everything right away: some material will be easier to grasp than others. However, if they may an attempt, even if they do not get it right at first, they will be on the right path.
HABITS OF MIND
USE KNOWLEDGE MEANINGFULLY
EXTEND AND REFINE KNOWLEDGE
ACQUIRE AND INTEGRATE KNOWLEDGE
ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS
To build good habits of mind you need to have a good foundation. What you take into you mind and how you take that in is important in increasing what you know and how you plan to use it.
Key Concepts
Accommodation/Assimilation
I would place these concepts under the Acquire and Integrate Knowledge category. Assimilation is when people use their existing knowledge to try to figure out what they come in contact. Accommodation is when people must change that existing knowledge to incorporate new situations into what they already know. Thus these require a person to take in new knowledge and apply it as is necessary.
Experimentation
Experimentation is a research method in which variables are manipulated and the effects recorded. This would go under extending and refining knowledge as experimentation can help further our knowledge on certain subjects.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism is explanations of learning that focus on external events as the cause of changes in observable behaviors. This would go under attitudes and perceptions because it is helping us to build ideas and theories on what we observe.
Piaget's Stages of Development
This I am placing under the category for Habits of the Mind. Within the four stages there are certain levels of reasoning and cognition that people achieve at different ages. These reasoning skills are what we use after we have built up the foundations of out mind.
Qualitative and Quantitative Research
I would put this into the category for Acquiring and Integrating Knowledge. What a researcher uses from the evidence collected from experiments helps them to build upon what they already know or give them insight into a subject that they do not have knowledge on.
Reversible Thinking
This is thinking backward, from the end to the beginning. This would go under habits of mind as this is a behavior that a person may have built upon over the years.
Formal operations
These are mental tasks involving abstract thinking and coordination of a number of variables. This would go under the category of extending and refining knowledge as these are tasks that will help to build habits of the mind.
Zone of Proximal Development
This is a phase at which a child or a person can master a task if given appropriate help and support. This would go under the category of acquiring and integrating knowledge as you are taking in new information in order to accomplish a task.
Scaffolding
This is support for learning and problem solving that is often used when in the zone of proximal development. This would go under acquiring and integrating knowledge as you are agin taking in new information in order to use knowledge meaningfully.
Intelligence
The ability or abilities to acquire and use knowledge for solving problems and adapting to the world. This I would place under habits of mind as you have to use your previously acquired knowledge to solve the problems you are faced with.
Eight Intelligences
This I am going to put into my Attitudes and Perceptions category and Habits of Mind. These intelligences are the foundations of what people use to build up their processes of the mind. They are also the comfort zones of the mind as well and how they work best depending on the individual person.
Learning Styles
This would be placed into Attitudes and Perceptions as we all have out own thoughts on how we, ourselves, learn best. Whether we prefer one method over the other.
Learned Helplessness
This is the expectation based on previous experiences with a lack of control, that all one's efforts will lead to failure. This would go under attitudes and perceptions as these ideas would be contained within your own thoughts about what work you are able to accomplish.
DifferentiatedInstruction
This would be another concept which would be placed into two categories: Acquire and Integrate Knowledge and Extend and Refine Knowledge. By differentiating what you teach you are helping your students gain new aspects of knowledge. If you differentiate how you teach you are helping to shape what they may or may not already know.
Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning is the association of automatic responses with new stimuli. This would go into the habits of mind category because our reaction to certain stimuli would depend on how our mind perceives them.
Operant Conditioning
Operant Conditioning is learning in which voluntary behavior is strengthened or weakened by consequences or antecedents. Again this would go under habits of mind since your response depends upon what has been built up within your mind.
Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement is strengthening behavior by presenting a desired stimulus after the behavior. This I would put into acquiring and integrating knowledge because you are building the type of response you want to see by shaping behavior.
Working Memory
Working memory is the information that you are focusing on in one given moment. This I would put into attitudes and perceptions as whatever we are looking at or working on in that moment is the sole focus and what we will build on to solve.
Cognitive Load
This is the volume of resources necessary to complete a task. This I would categorize under using knowledge meaningfully because you are pulling from what you have at your disposal to solve the problem.
Chunking
Chunking is the grouping of individual bits of data into meaningful larger units. This I would put into acquiring and integrating knowledge as you are trying to place the information you take in into context.
Procedural Memory
This is long-term memory for how to do things. This I would put under the category of using knowledge meaningfully because you are using what you have already processed and integrated into your mind to accomplish tasks.
Learning Strategies
These are the general plans for approaching learning tasks. This I would place under using knowledge meaningfully as you may possess ways of learning and then employ them to learn more.
Learning Tactics
Learning tactics are specific techniques for learning. This I would place under extending and refining knowledge as you are using these to increase the amount of what you already know.
Problem Solving
Creating new solutions for problems. This would be placed under habits of mind as you are using what you already possess in your mind to solve what problems are placed before you.
Analogical Thinking
This is a heuristic in which one limits the search for solutions to situations that are similar to the one at hand. I would pace this under habits of mind since you are using what you have already integrated and refined in your existing knowledge to solve the problem at hand
Formative Assessment
Any ungraded testing used before or during instruction to aid in planning and diagnosis. This I would put under extending and refining knowledge because you want to know what your students know before you either begin to teach them or continue to teach them.
Summative Assessment
Testing that follows instruction and assesses achievement. Like formative assessments I would put this under extending and refining knowledge because you are sill learning about what your students have learned from your teaching.
Performance Assessment
Any form of assessment that requires students to carry out an activity or produce a product in order to demonstrate learning. Again this goes under extending and refining knowledge because you are still learning about your students
Authentic Assessments
Assessment procedures that test skills and abilities as they would be applied on real-life situations. This I would put under using knowledge meaningfully because you need to from assessments that will help students demonstrate what they know in an effective manner.
Exhibition
A performance test or demonstration of learning that is public and usually takes an extended time to prepare. This I would put under using knowledge meaningfully because you are forming an assessment fro students to show what they have learned.
Social Learning Theory
The theory that emphasizes learning through the observations of others. This I would place under attitudes and perceptions as it is an idea about how some might learn material.
Self-efficacy
A person's sense of being able to deal effectively with a particular task. This I would place under habits of mind as you are using abilities that you have already developed.
HumanAgency
This is the capacity to coordinate learning skills, motivation, and emotions to reach your goals. I would place this into two categories: using knowledge meaningfully and habits of mind. It would go under using knowledge meaningfully because you are using your skills and motivations to accomplish a task. It would also be placed under habits of mind because you should, hopefully, have those skills and motivations incorporated into your thinking.
Teacher's Sense of efficacy
A teacher's belief that he or she can reach even the most difficult students and help them learn. This would be placed under attitudes and perceptions as it is a teacher's own personal belief that they are able to reach all students.
Volition
This is will power or self-discipline. This is a set of work styles that protect opportunities to reach goals by applying self regulated learning. This I would put in the habits of mind category as you have to use your own personal work styles, which you have been building, to accomplish a task.
Motivation
An internal state that arouses, directs and maintains behavior. This I would place under habits of mind because you are calling upon your existing state of mind to push yourself to accomplish a task.
Incentive
An object or event that encourages or discourages behavior. This I would place in the using knowledge meaningfully category because you are showing that you know what will nurture specific behaviors or hinder them.
Self-actualization
Fulfilling one's potential. This I would place in using knowledge meaningfully because you are trying to show what you are capable of by using what skills and knowledge you may already possess.
Masterygoal
A personal intention to improve abilities and learn no matter how performance suffers. This I would place into two categories: acquire and integrate knowledge and extending and refining knowledge. With this a person wants to take in new information and work with what they already know in order to improve on their performance.
Classroom Managment
These are techniques used to maintain a healthy learning environment, relatively free of behavior problems. This I would place under habits of mind because as a teacher you will use all that you have learned and build upon that to create a learning environment which fosters the expected behavior for a classroom.
Engaged Time/Time On Task
This is time that is spent actively engaged in the learning task at hand. This I would place in using knowledge meaningfully as you are trying to work to maximize your student's time in classroom.
Self-Management This is the management of your own behavior and acceptance of responsibility for your own actions. This I would place under extending and refining knowledge as you are using skills and ideas which you have already acquired to manage your tasks.
Rules
Rules are statements specifying expected and forbidden behaviors. This I would place under attitudes and perceptions as rules are the basis for what you need to build the type of behaviors you want to exhibit.
Assertive discipline
This is a clear, firm, unhostile response style to behavior issues. This would go under habits of mind as you are using what you already know to exert discipline in your classroom.
As a teacher I do not expect every student to be an avid lover of the subject, but I do require that they make an attempt to learn the language. I have passion for the subject and hope to transfer that to my students. Everyone is not a perfect student and I do not expect my students to attain perfection. All that I will ask is that they work hard and give his or her best effort. It is not an easy language and sometimes it can even seem confusing. I want them to ask questions and make mistakes because that is how students learn. They will not get everything right away: some material will be easier to grasp than others. However, if they may an attempt, even if they do not get it right at first, they will be on the right path.
USE KNOWLEDGE MEANINGFULLY
EXTEND AND REFINE KNOWLEDGE
ACQUIRE AND INTEGRATE KNOWLEDGE
ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS
To build good habits of mind you need to have a good foundation. What you take into you mind and how you take that in is important in increasing what you know and how you plan to use it.
Key Concepts
Accommodation/Assimilation
I would place these concepts under the Acquire and Integrate Knowledge category. Assimilation is when people use their existing knowledge to try to figure out what they come in contact. Accommodation is when people must change that existing knowledge to incorporate new situations into what they already know. Thus these require a person to take in new knowledge and apply it as is necessary.
Experimentation
Experimentation is a research method in which variables are manipulated and the effects recorded. This would go under extending and refining knowledge as experimentation can help further our knowledge on certain subjects.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism is explanations of learning that focus on external events as the cause of changes in observable behaviors. This would go under attitudes and perceptions because it is helping us to build ideas and theories on what we observe.
Piaget's Stages of Development
This I am placing under the category for Habits of the Mind. Within the four stages there are certain levels of reasoning and cognition that people achieve at different ages. These reasoning skills are what we use after we have built up the foundations of out mind.
Qualitative and Quantitative Research
I would put this into the category for Acquiring and Integrating Knowledge. What a researcher uses from the evidence collected from experiments helps them to build upon what they already know or give them insight into a subject that they do not have knowledge on.
Reversible Thinking
This is thinking backward, from the end to the beginning. This would go under habits of mind as this is a behavior that a person may have built upon over the years.
Formal operations
These are mental tasks involving abstract thinking and coordination of a number of variables. This would go under the category of extending and refining knowledge as these are tasks that will help to build habits of the mind.
Zone of Proximal Development
This is a phase at which a child or a person can master a task if given appropriate help and support. This would go under the category of acquiring and integrating knowledge as you are taking in new information in order to accomplish a task.
Scaffolding
This is support for learning and problem solving that is often used when in the zone of proximal development. This would go under acquiring and integrating knowledge as you are agin taking in new information in order to use knowledge meaningfully.
Intelligence
The ability or abilities to acquire and use knowledge for solving problems and adapting to the world. This I would place under habits of mind as you have to use your previously acquired knowledge to solve the problems you are faced with.
Eight Intelligences
This I am going to put into my Attitudes and Perceptions category and Habits of Mind. These intelligences are the foundations of what people use to build up their processes of the mind. They are also the comfort zones of the mind as well and how they work best depending on the individual person.
Learning Styles
This would be placed into Attitudes and Perceptions as we all have out own thoughts on how we, ourselves, learn best. Whether we prefer one method over the other.
Learned Helplessness
This is the expectation based on previous experiences with a lack of control, that all one's efforts will lead to failure. This would go under attitudes and perceptions as these ideas would be contained within your own thoughts about what work you are able to accomplish.
Differentiated Instruction
This would be another concept which would be placed into two categories: Acquire and Integrate Knowledge and Extend and Refine Knowledge. By differentiating what you teach you are helping your students gain new aspects of knowledge. If you differentiate how you teach you are helping to shape what they may or may not already know.
Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning is the association of automatic responses with new stimuli. This would go into the habits of mind category because our reaction to certain stimuli would depend on how our mind perceives them.
Operant Conditioning
Operant Conditioning is learning in which voluntary behavior is strengthened or weakened by consequences or antecedents. Again this would go under habits of mind since your response depends upon what has been built up within your mind.
Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement is strengthening behavior by presenting a desired stimulus after the behavior. This I would put into acquiring and integrating knowledge because you are building the type of response you want to see by shaping behavior.
Working Memory
Working memory is the information that you are focusing on in one given moment. This I would put into attitudes and perceptions as whatever we are looking at or working on in that moment is the sole focus and what we will build on to solve.
Cognitive Load
This is the volume of resources necessary to complete a task. This I would categorize under using knowledge meaningfully because you are pulling from what you have at your disposal to solve the problem.
Chunking
Chunking is the grouping of individual bits of data into meaningful larger units. This I would put into acquiring and integrating knowledge as you are trying to place the information you take in into context.
Procedural Memory
This is long-term memory for how to do things. This I would put under the category of using knowledge meaningfully because you are using what you have already processed and integrated into your mind to accomplish tasks.
Learning Strategies
These are the general plans for approaching learning tasks. This I would place under using knowledge meaningfully as you may possess ways of learning and then employ them to learn more.
Learning Tactics
Learning tactics are specific techniques for learning. This I would place under extending and refining knowledge as you are using these to increase the amount of what you already know.
Problem Solving
Creating new solutions for problems. This would be placed under habits of mind as you are using what you already possess in your mind to solve what problems are placed before you.
Analogical Thinking
This is a heuristic in which one limits the search for solutions to situations that are similar to the one at hand. I would pace this under habits of mind since you are using what you have already integrated and refined in your existing knowledge to solve the problem at hand
Formative Assessment
Any ungraded testing used before or during instruction to aid in planning and diagnosis. This I would put under extending and refining knowledge because you want to know what your students know before you either begin to teach them or continue to teach them.
Summative Assessment
Testing that follows instruction and assesses achievement. Like formative assessments I would put this under extending and refining knowledge because you are sill learning about what your students have learned from your teaching.
Performance Assessment
Any form of assessment that requires students to carry out an activity or produce a product in order to demonstrate learning. Again this goes under extending and refining knowledge because you are still learning about your students
Authentic Assessments
Assessment procedures that test skills and abilities as they would be applied on real-life situations. This I would put under using knowledge meaningfully because you need to from assessments that will help students demonstrate what they know in an effective manner.
Exhibition
A performance test or demonstration of learning that is public and usually takes an extended time to prepare. This I would put under using knowledge meaningfully because you are forming an assessment fro students to show what they have learned.
Social Learning Theory
The theory that emphasizes learning through the observations of others. This I would place under attitudes and perceptions as it is an idea about how some might learn material.
Self-efficacy
A person's sense of being able to deal effectively with a particular task. This I would place under habits of mind as you are using abilities that you have already developed.
Human Agency
This is the capacity to coordinate learning skills, motivation, and emotions to reach your goals. I would place this into two categories: using knowledge meaningfully and habits of mind. It would go under using knowledge meaningfully because you are using your skills and motivations to accomplish a task. It would also be placed under habits of mind because you should, hopefully, have those skills and motivations incorporated into your thinking.
Teacher's Sense of efficacy
A teacher's belief that he or she can reach even the most difficult students and help them learn. This would be placed under attitudes and perceptions as it is a teacher's own personal belief that they are able to reach all students.
Volition
This is will power or self-discipline. This is a set of work styles that protect opportunities to reach goals by applying self regulated learning. This I would put in the habits of mind category as you have to use your own personal work styles, which you have been building, to accomplish a task.
Motivation
An internal state that arouses, directs and maintains behavior. This I would place under habits of mind because you are calling upon your existing state of mind to push yourself to accomplish a task.
Incentive
An object or event that encourages or discourages behavior. This I would place in the using knowledge meaningfully category because you are showing that you know what will nurture specific behaviors or hinder them.
Self-actualization
Fulfilling one's potential. This I would place in using knowledge meaningfully because you are trying to show what you are capable of by using what skills and knowledge you may already possess.
Mastery goal
A personal intention to improve abilities and learn no matter how performance suffers. This I would place into two categories: acquire and integrate knowledge and extending and refining knowledge. With this a person wants to take in new information and work with what they already know in order to improve on their performance.
Classroom Managment
These are techniques used to maintain a healthy learning environment, relatively free of behavior problems. This I would place under habits of mind because as a teacher you will use all that you have learned and build upon that to create a learning environment which fosters the expected behavior for a classroom.
Engaged Time/Time On Task
This is time that is spent actively engaged in the learning task at hand. This I would place in using knowledge meaningfully as you are trying to work to maximize your student's time in classroom.
Self-Management
This is the management of your own behavior and acceptance of responsibility for your own actions. This I would place under extending and refining knowledge as you are using skills and ideas which you have already acquired to manage your tasks.
Rules
Rules are statements specifying expected and forbidden behaviors. This I would place under attitudes and perceptions as rules are the basis for what you need to build the type of behaviors you want to exhibit.
Assertive discipline
This is a clear, firm, unhostile response style to behavior issues. This would go under habits of mind as you are using what you already know to exert discipline in your classroom.